Mind Over Money

Remember the piggy bank? The little jar or box that takes your money in but does not give it back unless you break it. With cashes are used less and less and banking becomes easy and widely available, it is not clear how many people are still using piggy banks to teach kids how to save money. However, the idea behind the piggy bank is still valid, something or someway that makes easy to save but hard to spend will promote savings, even if that something is not physical. Claudia Hammond, the author of Mind Over Money: the Psychology of Money and How to Use It Better, discovers that people are less likely to pull from a savings if the money is stored in a bank that sounds geographically far away. So next time when to open a bank account intended to save money, name it something like “Banked in Penguin Republic of South Pole”. Okay, if that sound too ridiculous, at least choose a bank that does not have a branch office or ATM close to you.

We all have the experience that hard-earned money seems having more value than easy money does. To nobody’s surprise, the author finds that money is an rare exception in the incentive-reward model that future reward tends to have effects on people’s behaviors. And, that is powerful way for future promotions